HUNDREDS of jobs are at risk after the group, which operates Eisenegger clothing stores, was placed in administration.

It is feared that up to half of the chain's 70 shops could be closed in the next few days.

Among Blackpool-based Basebuy's branches are ones in Manchester's Arndale Centre and the Trafford Centre.

In addition to the Eisenegger brand, Basebuy owns the Foxhole label. The group's annual turnover is é55m and, until 2004, it was making profits of é500,000 a year.

But trading has become difficult because of intense competition from other discount retailers such as Primark, Matalan and supermarket chains.

Basebuy, owned by founders Jill and Peter Donnelly, has also suffered from uneconomic expansion into costly rented sites in malls in the south. This year's losses could be as high as é1m. Dermot Power and David Swaden, business restructuring specialists at Manchester accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward, have been appointed administrators and are hoping to sell the business as a going concern.

However, some redundancies are inevitable. The group employs about 50 people at its head office and a further 550 in its stores. Up to half the branches now face closure.

Well-managed

Mr Power said: "This is a well-managed business which has been trading profitably for a number of years. Intense competition on the high street for a share of a diminishing retail spend, together with some aggressive expansion into uneconomic rental units, are two factors which are largely responsible for the need of a reconstruction.

"Over 600 direct jobs are at risk and, despite some inevitable redundancies, I am confident a sale of the business should result in job protection

"The fight for the retail pound is ferocious."

Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and retailers have to get the fashions right.

In addition, interest rates rises and the credit squeeze have led shoppers to the point where they will not part with their pound unless they are getting exactly what they want at the right price, he said.